Although 2024 hasn’t been completely devoid of superhero movies from both the MCU and the DCU, they are somewhat taking a break as they are saving their blockbusters for next year, making 2025 one filled with massive anticipation. Obviously, the big exception this year was Deadpool & Wolverine, a billion-dollar success that may have placed the Merc with a Mouth into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but felt more like a tribute to a specific period of comic book movies where 20th Century Fox were producing their own Marvel movies.
With nostalgia being this continuous weapon of mass destruction when it comes to recent Hollywood blockbusters, the Venom series harks back to another specific period of comic book movies where we had atrocities like 1997’s Spawn. Created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane, Venom is a character who can never escape his ‘90s aesthetic and thus his movies reflect that, as does the recent slew of Sony’s Marvel movies.
Following the events of the second instalment Let There Be Carnage, as well as his brief cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Last Dance shows Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote being on the run for the murder of Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham), forcing him to set out to New York City and attempt to clear his name. Unbeknownst to either one of them, Brock is not only being hunted by a secret government operation, but also aliens from Venom’s home world that could shake up the symbiotic relationship between the two protagonists.
Directors like Ruben Fleischer and Andy Serkis may have put their stamp onto this particular series, you could make the argument that Tom Hardy and screenwriter Kelly Marcel are the true auteurs as the two have conceived the narratives for all three films, while the latter makes her directorial debut here. Hardy may have been more successful as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, despite being parodied in subsequent media, his trilogy-spanning turn as Eddie Brock has always been questionable, not least of which speaks an accent that nobody can pin down.
As much as the previous instalments have showcased his journalistic skills, Hardy’s performance is more about physical comedy and the banter between his symbiote partner. In the context of this film where his journalistic skills are not present, Hardy plays the role as a schlubby hobo who spends most of his screen-time by talking to himself. Considering the low quality of these films, it is surprising they feature some of the most talented actors being cast in thankless roles and that is the case here with British talent like Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor given such generic exposition dialogue.
With so much of Hardy’s Brock being directionless here, that’s a perfect metaphor for the film itself, which is in conflict with itself. Although fans of the series will appreciate the off-the-wall humor that crystallizes the dysfunctional relationship between Eddie and Venom, though jokes like a symbiotic horse were spoiled thanks to the trailer, the film seems to be compiled of random set-pieces that have very little to do with the main generic plot. The action featuring symbiotes has never been great in this series, and despite the two minutes that the main villain Knull, he just takes a backseat and let’s just his CGI beasties to perform the evildoing
‘Venom: The Last Dance’ review: Final part of trilogy is tonal whiplash
Venom: The Last Dance
Supposedly Tom Hardy’s final stint as Eddie Brock, Venom: The Last Dance concludes a trilogy that has always felt behind the times, as well as Sony’s continuous but failed attempt of creating their own MCU.
Fans will still love the Eddie/Venom relationship…
…even if Tom Hardy delivers a schizophrenic performance that is thrown into random comedy set-pieces.
A great British cast featuring Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor get lost in thankless roles.
Juggling the generic action and the off-the-wall comedy, the film is a messy tonal whiplash.
Sorry Knull fans, but he’s barely in it, despite being the main villain.
